Quentin Tarantino makes a horror film - scary concept, no? Actually, he only wrote and co-starred in this movie. He left the direction and editing up to one Robert Rodriguez (Desperado), a man with a brilliant eye for fast-cut shots and unconventional direction, which mixes nicely with Tarantino's unconventional script.(read more...)

Having Sam Raimi at the helm of a film is a strong enough reason for most horror fans to watch. After the understated brilliance of A Simple Plan, it's a strong enough reason for anybody to go. However, in The Gift, Raimi is given an amazingly talented cast that threatens to overshadow his brand of cinematic exuberance. Most exciting is the presence of the beautiful and, heh, gifted Cate Blanchett.(read more...)

Tod Browning (born Charles Browning, Jr. on July 12, 1880, in Louisville, Kentucky) began developing his skills of showmanship at an early age. At five and blessed with a beautiful singing voice, he sang solos in the church choir, on Sundays, to the pleasure of the congregation. On Saturday he performed in his own backyard neighborhood show charging a penny for admission and taking most of the business from the other kid's backyard penny shows.

Poltergeist is one of those slightly enigmatic films, chock full o' flaws from many perspectives -- including my own -- that is able to rise above its countless gaffes and play like a minor masterpiece. Unfortunately, it's much easier to point out the problems than it is to say why it works. Part of it may be more generational than due to anything inherent with the film. I first saw Poltergeist in the theater as a fifteen-year-old; many of the people who love this film are close to me in age and saw it during or near its first theatrical run. My wife, on the other hand, a bit older and from a different culture, basically hated the film. To her, there wasn't anything to overcome the flaws.(read more...)

Director Stuart (Cool Hand Luke, The Pope of Greenwich Village) Rosenberg's Amityville Horror certainly isn't a masterpiece, and it's not likely to win over a lot of younger, more superficially-oriented horror fans. There isn't much gore to speak of. There aren't mega-budget special effects. The film isn't edited for the MTV generation--that is, its pace has more in common with Robert Wise's The Haunting (although it isn't quite the stinker that that film is) than Evil Dead. What it does have is a deliberate, gradual descent into a mood that threatens to become eerie, but remains disappointingly inert.(read more...)

Director Robert Wise's The Haunting begins with both guns blazing, so to speak. As a haunted house film, it starts beautifully--Wise lingers on an eerie black and white shot of Hill House while narration tells us the creepy backstory, which is chock full of death--suicides, probable murders, early intimations that some spiritual force intertwined with the house itself killed people, etc.(read more...)

Another one to mark down for "Things Nate should have reviewed earlier." This glossy teen vampire flick is a staple on cable channels like USA, and is immensely popular amongst disillusioned adolescents. It's the only review request I get with any frequency. I can see why.

It's not that The Lost Boys is a great cinematic masterpiece, one horribly overlooked in the 1987 Oscars. On the contrary, it's more style than substance, more flashy than focused. The whole affair smacks of the touch of director Joel Schumacher (Batman Forever, 8MM). It's not to say the movie is bad either. There's not a thing that annoyed me (beyond the really awful 80s hair and clothing), and I was entertained.(read more...)

I'm sure I've said this before, but at this point in cinematic history, it's very hard to make a Dracula film and do something new with it. You have to admire writer/directors like Patrick Lussier who, along with writer Joel Soisson, makes a valiant attempt at creating a film that acknowledges and pays homage to past Draculas while taking bold new steps that will both not offend or seem ridiculous to the traditionalists and keep the audience who wants to see something fresh and exciting entertained for two hours.(read more...)